#YesAllWomen

The tragedy at UCSB last week launched a powerful argument, that while not all men channel frustration into aggression, all women have felt the effects of discrimination, harassment, or some other form of misogyny. The hashtag #YesAllWomen exploded on Twitter, with over a million people sharing their own stories and experiences.

#notallmen practice violence against women but #YesAllWomen live with the threat of male violence. Every. Single. Day. All over the world.
— Soraya Chemaly (@schemaly) May 24, 2014

#YesAllWomen b/c not returning someone's feelings, or as society calls it putting them in the "friend zone", should not make me feel guilty
— Business Sam (@Sam_Slagle) May 25, 2014

Because I now wear shorts under dresses in crowded bars after being groped and even penetrated by unseen hands. #YesAllWomen
— Laura (@LauraLikesWine) May 25, 2014

Not everyone supports the hashtag. Heather Wilhelm at the Federalist calls this the most narcissistic event of 2014, and argues that women are trying to play the victim, just like Elliot Rodger did. I disagree. I don't believe that women are using the tragedy for pity. This fight has been simmering for much longer than that. Maybe it's reached a boiling point. Maybe it hasn't yet. After all, it's just a hashtag, but it's started a discussion.

In the words of Maya Angelou, "[t]here is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." These things are things we need to talk about. We need to talk about misogyny, we need to talk about the way our culture is allowing abuse and harassment. When only 40% of sexual assaults are reported to the police, when 97% of rapists will never go to jail, don't tell me that silence is ok. (RAINN)

We need to address this, and we need to address it now. The hashtag has sparked discussion about rape in India and Africa, about sexual assaults on college campuses. And I think that's a step in the right direction. Do not be silent.

Don't hate the #yesallwomen hashtag. Hate that it has to even exist. Hate the injustice of gender inequality. Hate violence against women.
— Eugene Cho (@EugeneCho) May 26, 2014